


Tis The Season For Fruitcake

by afteriwake



Series: Domestic Bliss [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-28
Updated: 2013-02-28
Packaged: 2017-12-03 20:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/702377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sherlock and John receive a dreaded fruitcake from Mrs. Hudson for their first Christmas together as a couple, they will do anything to get rid of it. But karma has a way of biting them in the arse sometimes, as it makes the rounds among their friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tis The Season For Fruitcake

**Author's Note:**

> An answer to two more prompts for the sherlockmas Afterglow Fest: "A couple's first Christmas as an official 'couple'" and "Mrs. Hudson bakes a fruitcake for John and Sherlock, who immediately pass it to someone else. The fruitcake makes the rounds of everyone, only to end up back with John and Sherlock." So far I think this is my favorite fic I've written for the entire fest.

As Christmas got nearer, and Sherlock and John realized this was going to be their first Christmas together as a couple, John began to make elaborate plans. Sherlock didn’t see why John was going to make a big fuss about it; after all, once their friends had gotten over the initial shock that not only was he not adverse to being in a relationship but that he wanted to be in a relationship with John, they all took it well enough. Having to put on a show at Christmas was only going to bring back the memories of the last Christmas they had all spent together, the one where Sherlock had outed Lestrade’s wife’s affair, humiliated Molly and gotten Irene’s phone. It was not one of his finest moments, he had come to realize in the years since.

Still, John wanted to have another go at a party, and he supposed it might be better this time around. After all, Lestrade had divorced his cheating wife and just recently married Molly, to the surprise of absolutely no one who had seen his reaction to her in the dress she had worn that last Christmas they all spent together. Sherlock had rather hoped that as a newly married couple Lestrade and Molly would host a party but John beat them to it, much to Sherlock’s chagrin.

A week before the event Mrs. Hudson came up to the common room, carrying something rectangular bundled up in Christmas printed cellophane. “Oh, hello boys. I have an early Christmas gift for you.”

“What is it, Mrs. Hudson?” John asked with a smile on his face.

“I made a batch of my delicious fruitcake.” She held it up slightly, and it obscured the look on John’s face of horror. By the time she lowered it the look had passed and she moved over to the table. “Oh, you two must be so excited! Your first Christmas together as an actual couple. I remember my first Christmas with my husband, God rest his soul. We wanted to do nothing but impress the neighbors. I do hope this year’s Christmas party turns out better than the last?” she said with a slightly pointed look towards Sherlock.

“I promise I will be on my best behavior,” Sherlock said with a slight nod.

“Excellent. I can’t wait to attend. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more fruitcakes to deliver.” She gave them a smile and a wave and then left the room with a bounce in her step.

John and Sherlock drifted over to the fruitcake. John looked at it for a moment as Sherlock poked it. “It’s as hard as a rock,” Sherlock said.

“We need to get rid of it,” John said.

“Chuck it in the garbage?” Sherlock said with a slight shrug as he turned to John.

“No. What if she sees it?”

“Do you really think she’ll poke through the trash to see if we threw it away?” Sherlock asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“We don’t know,” John said. “We can give it to someone.”

“Who?” Sherlock asked.

“Your brother?” John suggested.

Sherlock shook his head. “No. He’ll just give it right back.”

“Well, if we give it to Greg and Molly that will just be an insult.”

“What about Sarah?”

“I’m not going to give it to my boss!” John said with a slight glare. “Who else do we know?”

Sherlock thought for a moment. “There’s always Anthea,” he said after a moment.

John was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “That’s a good idea. If she gets rid of it no one will know. How do we get a hold of her?”

“We go to Mycroft’s. They are very quiet about their relationship, but she spends more time at his home than her own.”

“They’re in a relationship?” John said, his jaw dropping slightly.

“They are both quite good at hiding it, but yes, they are. They have been for years. Why do you think she was never receptive to your charms?”

“How did Mycroft get so lucky?” John asked thoughtfully.

“I have no earthly clue.” Sherlock pinched the cellophane wrapper with two of his fingers and picked up the fruitcake. “Let’s get this out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Fine. Let me just grab my coat.”

\--

Anthea opened the door when Sherlock knocked on Mycroft’s front door an hour later. “John. Sherlock. Why on earth are you here?”

“Good to see you too, Anthea,” Sherlock said drily.

“I apologize. Do you have business with Mycroft?” she said, opening the door a bit more.

“No, actually, we have something for you,” John said with a grin. He held out a festive Christmas bag with the cellophane containing the fruitcake peeking out from the top. “Happy Christmas, even if it’s a bit early.”

“For me?” Anthea asked, surprised. She blushed slightly. “Thank you.”

“No worries,” Sherlock said.

“Would you like to come in for a moment?” she asked.

“No, no. The cab’s waiting for us. Enjoy your present!” John said, and with that he and Sherlock turned and nearly ran down the steps leading up to Mycroft’s home.

Anthea watched them quizzically, then went back inside and shut the door behind her. She made her way to the study, where Mycroft was relaxing with a snifter of brandy by the fire. “Your brother and his boyfriend just gave me a gift,” she said as she shut the study door behind her and came inside.

“It’s probably something they didn’t want,” Mycroft said, looking up from the fire to her.

“Or it could be a nice gesture,” she replied before going to the chair opposite his. She set the bag down on her lap and opened it, then grabbed the cellophane and pulled out the fruitcake. Then she sighed. “It’s fruitcake.”

Mycroft smiled slightly. “See? I was right.”

“I should just go throw it away,” she said, unceremoniously dropping the fruitcake back into the bag.

“On the contrary,” Mycroft said. “Didn’t you say you had a gift exchange to go to?”

She nodded. “I don’t know why Molly invited me. It’s not my sort of thing.”

“After all the times you talked to her while Sherlock was in exile, perhaps she felt you had bonded,” he replied, swirling the brandy in his glass before taking a sip. “Who did you get?”

“Sally Donovan,” she said.

“Perhaps you could give it to her,” he replied. “She isn’t exactly the biggest fan of the Holmes family. This could be just a subtle enough insult.”

Anthea grinned slightly. “Have I ever mentioned that I like the way you think, Mycroft?”

“A few times, yes,” he said with a nod and a slight smile. “Though I do admit I like hearing it.”

“You could have been an evil genius,” she said with a wider smile.

“Then I suppose it’s for the best that I use my tremendous intellect for good,” he said.

“Oh, but I like your slightly evil streak,” she said, setting the bag on the floor and making her way over to him. She took the snifter out of his hand and placed it on the table next to his chair. “Perhaps I can show you just how much?”

His own smile got wider. “If you insist,” he said as she offered her hand.

“Oh, I do.”

\--

“All right, everyone, get the package with your name on it! And remember, don’t reveal who you gave a gift to,” Molly said with a grin. “It takes all the fun out of it.”

The other women chuckled at that. Anthea kept an eye on Sally as she got the fruitcake, now wrapped in different cellophane and put into a new bag, just on the off chance that Molly had seen it before Sherlock and John had dropped it off to her. Sally looked happy at first, until she lifted it up. “I got…fruitcake,” she said glumly.

“Oh no!” Molly said. “I’m so sorry.” She cast a quick glance at Anthea, who pretended not to notice. Molly hadn’t opened her gift yet, and she handed it to Sally. “Let’s swap. You can have my gift.”

“Thank you,” Sally said gratefully. Anthea turned her attention away from the scene and opened up her own gift. It was a soft scarf, and for a moment she felt guilty that Molly was now stuck with the fruitcake. She didn’t like to admit it, but Molly was a nice person. She didn’t deserve this, especially since the gift Sally ended up opening was a silver charm bracelet.

As the others left the gift exchange, Sally and Anthea lingered. Sally thanked Molly profusely for trading gifts, smiling as she held up the charm bracelet that was now adorning her wrist. Molly gave her a smile and then a hug, and then Sally left. After a moment Anthea cleared her throat and Molly turned to her. “Why did you give Sally fruitcake?” she asked quietly.

“Because she dislikes Sherlock. He might not be my favorite person in the world, but I _am_ dating his brother. I know where my loyalties lie.” She held out the scarf. “I know it’s not a charm bracelet, but I hope it’s nicer than the fruitcake.”

“I bought the scarf for you,” Molly said with a sad smile.

“Oh,” Anthea said, lowering her hand. “Let me make it up to you. How about we do a little shopping? I’ll buy you anything you want, as long as it’s under five hundred pounds.”

Molly’s eyes widened. “Really? Thank you, Anthea.”

“You’re welcome,” she said with a slight smile. “What are you going to do with the fruitcake?”

“I don’t know,” Molly said with a slight shrug. “But it can keep until later. Come on. There was a nice necklace at Harrod’s that I had my eye on that I know for a fact Greg didn’t get me.”

“All right,” Anthea said with a nod. “Let’s go.”

\--

“So, how did we get the fruitcake again?” Lestrade asked as Molly they were getting ready for bed.

“Anthea got it and regifted it to Sally because Sally doesn’t like Sherlock and since Anthea is dating Mycroft and her loyalties lie with the Holmes family she wanted to insult her, I suppose. I traded my gift to Sally for it, and then Anthea offered to buy me whatever I wanted to make up for it.” Molly turned to him. “I never thought Anthea would feel guilty about anything, but apparently I was wrong.”

“She must really consider you a good friend to buy you a necklace like that,” he said as he came up behind her and fingered the chain at the nape of her neck.

“I think I’m one of her few friends,” Molly said with a smile.

“So what are we going to do with it?” he asked.

“Well, Anthea told me that it was Sherlock and John who gave it to her.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Sherlock gifted her with fruitcake and yet she gave it to someone who doesn’t like him as an insult? Personally I would have just given it straight back to the two of them.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too.” She turned back to the mirror. “I mean, I understand it’s fruitcake, and nobody wants fruitcake, but to fob it off on someone else isn’t right. So we should give it back to them.”

A slightly wicked grin crossed Lestrade’s face. “It would serve them right.”

“It would,” she said with a grin of her own. “I have other gifts for them, so we’ll just repackage it and include it with the other gifts. Then it won’t stand out as an insult. Once the party is over I’ll tell them the whole story and hopefully they’ll learn not to do something like that again.”

Lestrade leaned over and kissed the side of her neck. “You are a very devious person, Molly,” he murmured, his lips hovering just above her skin. “Have I ever told you how much I love it when you’re devious?”

She shivered slightly. “No.”

“Well, I do.” He kissed her neck again. “It’s a very attractive quality when you’re putting it to good use.”

“It is?” she said quietly.

“Very attractive.” She turned to look at him. “I believe I’d like to show you just how much that particular quality turns me on.”

She blushed slightly as she grinned, framing his face in her hands. “Oh, Greg. I do love you.”

He put his hands on her waist. “I’m glad to hear that.” And with that, he leaned in and kissed her deeply, the fruitcake forgotten for the moment.

\--

“Okay, so we have gifts for each of you, and I saw some of you coming in with gifts so I figured now would be a good time to do a gift exchange, all right?” John said, clapping his hands once.

“Open this one first,” Molly said with a smile, handing Sherlock the bag containing the fruitcake. She and Greg had gotten new cellophane for it and put it in yet another bag, and then wadded up tissue paper and put it on top so they wouldn’t know what it was.

“It feels heavy,” Sherlock said.

“Well, it’s a wonderful gift,” Lestrade said with a slight smirk. “Open it up.”

Molly glanced over at Mycroft and Anthea. She had told the other woman what she planned on doing, and Anthea had wholeheartedly approved. She and Mycroft had originally declined the invitation to the party, but Molly’s news had changed their minds. They, along with Mrs. Hudson, all watched as Sherlock handed John the bag. John pulled out the tissue paper, and then got to the gift. “It’s fruitcake,” he said quietly.

“A very _special_ fruitcake,” Anthea said before winking at Molly, who giggled slightly.

“Oh, you boys got another fruitcake?” Mrs. Hudson said with a smile. “I hope you have room for more now that you’ve finished mine.”

“Yes, Mrs. Hudson, we do,” Sherlock said, looking over at Lestrade and Molly. Molly had a benign grin on her face and Lestrade’s smirk had gotten wider. Then he looked at Mycroft and Anthea, and saw the two of them had the same smirk that Lestrade had. “Thank you both,” he said as he turned back to Molly and Lestrade.

“Oh, you’re so welcome,” Lestrade said.

John leaned over towards Sherlock. “This is the fruitcake we got from Mrs. Hudson, isn’t it?” he whispered.

“I believe it is,” Sherlock murmured, a fake smile on his face.

“This time we’re just going to chuck it in the trash, right?”

“Absolutely.”

Mrs. Hudson smiled at everyone. “And just so you know, there’s fruitcake for all of you as well. I was quite a busy baker this week.”

The amused looks and smirks quickly dropped off everyone else’s faces, and it was all Sherlock and John could do to not howl in laughter. They looked at each other and shared a chuckle before setting the fruitcake down and handing out other gifts. All in all, this Christmas was going much better than the last one, even if everyone got rock hard fruitcake at the end of the day.


End file.
